For nearly 150 years, standard football matches have lasted 90 minutes. However, modern pre-season schedules across the Premier League and European football are increasingly deviating from tradition. From double-headers split across training grounds to four 30-minute quarters and mini-tournaments featuring 45-minute halves, clubs are adopting unconventional formats to optimize player fitness and tactical readiness.

Ahead of the new campaign, Liverpool arranged a 180-minute double-header against Serie A side Como—one behind closed doors at their training ground at noon and another at Anfield later that evening. Leeds United and RB Leipzig recently contested a 120-minute fixture divided into two 60-minute matches, while Nottingham Forest and Crystal Palace engaged in mini-tournaments featuring 45-minute standalone encounters.

While unconventional structures can look like gimmicks to supporters, performance analysts and sports scientists emphasize that traditional 90-minute matches rarely serve the full squad's physical progression during a compressed summer schedule.

Managing squad load and maintaining morale

Pre-season typically spans around six weeks, during which performance staff look to transition players from high-intensity, low-volume training to building volume before finding a balance right before competitive action starts.

“Traditionally, it’s always been a challenge to achieve rounded squad fitness within the normal 90-minute game of pre-season,” explained Glen Driscoll, a former performance analyst at Liverpool, Celtic, and Leicester City under Brendan Rodgers. “The closer you get to the season, the more you universally create a divide between the players you’re preparing to start and everybody else. Then you are trying to run them after a game, which is difficult, because supporters are in the stadium, or security. Or you’re travelling, and there’s a flight waiting for you.”

Beyond physical metrics, Driscoll noted that squad harmony plays a role: “You don’t want half the squad already feeling like they’ve been identified as the non-starters.”

Building intensity gradually

In-season, top-tier and EFL teams aim for players to cover approximately 30 kilometres in matches and training per week. Pre-season works on carefully structured targets to meet that standard without triggering injuries.

Anton McElhone, head of medical and performance at Huddersfield Town, highlighted the gradual ramp-up required across the summer window:

“In the first four weeks, we would expect players to be covering around that mark, while some clubs may push towards 40km. Few friendlies are played early on because the intensity is high, but once the matches start feeding in, the volume of minutes at once becomes higher, meaning the (training) drills between are less intensive.”

According to McElhone, ideal match exposure begins with 45 minutes in week two, progressing to 60 minutes in week three, 75 minutes in week four, and the full 90 minutes by week five and beyond. “It’s all in the numbers,” McElhone added, noting that high-intensity match running differs drastically from standard training distances.

The impact of the five-substitute rule

Format adaptations have also evolved in response to broader rule changes in elite football, specifically the permanent introduction of five substitutions in the Premier League from the 2022-23 season onward.

“The introduction of five substitutes in a match changed everything,” Driscoll noted. “Before, you needed 11 players ready to play 90 minutes. Now, producing 16-20 players physically able to play 60 minutes looks more useful.”

Leicester City and Bristol Rovers utilized a 120-minute match split into four 30-minute quarters in July, enabling both sides to deploy two distinct lineups for 60 minutes each and balancing the load equally across their squads.

Ultimately, sports scientists stress that performance in August and September matters far more than pre-season scorelines or structures. As McElhone summarized: “The most important thing is that whatever happens in pre-season means nothing once the first game of the season begins.”